The militarily-minded non-profit known as the Wounded Warrior Project is facing some serious claims that the organization has been squandering its funds and treating itself to lavish perks.
A new CBS investigation into the spending habits of the Wounded Warrior Project indicated that only 60 percent of the charity’s funds actually go to veterans. It’s a number that is dwarfed by fellow veteran-focused organizations like the Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust (who donate 96 percent) and Fisher House (who donate 91 percent). Considering that the Wounded Warrior Project has pulled in donations in the hundreds of millions, there are a lot of questions raised about where the money’s been going.
Tax data examined by the Eye Network shows that the cost of meetings and conferences has swollen rapidly over the past few years. In 2010, the total earmarked for that side of things was at $1.7 million. For 2014? A robust $26 million total. A WWP spokesperson has commented on this bump in spending saying that the dollar total reflects their desire to provide services and programs of the highest quality.
Army Staff Sergeant Erick Millette told CBS that he witnessed all kinds of lavish spending when he worked with the organization. His frustration over the alleged misuse of funds is also shared by the dozens of former employees that CBS contacted for the story. Millette paints a pretty grim picture of what he says is going down with the WWP.
“You’re using our injuries, our darkest days, our hardships, to make money. So you can have these big parties.”
Millette stresed to CBS that he considers what the WWP has done with its spending to be a wild misplacement of funds. According to the Purple Heart honored vet, what’s going on is essentially a betrayal of donor trust.
“Donors don’t want you to have a $2,500 bar tab. Donors don’t want you to fly every staff member once a year to some five-star resort and whoop it up and call it team building.”
The Wounded Warrior Project has taken issue with the report and provided a statement that accuses CBS of presenting “numerous factual errors.”
The CBS News piece had numerous factual errors and misrepresented the good work Wounded Warrior Project does on behalf of this nation’s injured veterans. “Wounded Warrior Project leads the industry in transparency and reporting publicly our independently audited financial documents. Separate from our financials, we also make public all of our program information and impact metrics. These are readily available on our website for anyone to view. “Based on our most recently independently audited financial statements, 80.6 percent of total expenditures went to provide 20 services and programs for Wounded Warriors and their families.
(via CBS News)